Phantology
by VanillaSpiders
Summary: The presence of ghosts are supposed to send chills up your body. And Phantom's presence does, just...not the kind Danny's used to. A collection of random pitch pearl oneshots all in one handy place for you to enjoy!
1. Houdini

_**Houdini**_

Just one day, Danny would like to be woken up by a chorus chirping birds, like the ones out of Disney. Or the sound of a flute, or maybe even to the smell of breakfast that wasn't a bowl of cereal and milk.

But today is not that one day, he knows, because it's 6 am (at least it was until his alarm clock exploded by his face) and he's opened his eyes to see another stream of bright green ecto energy streak over his head and slam into the wall, where it promptly blasted a whole in the plaster, leaving a faint trail of smoke.

That ectobeam could belong to only one creature, and it was the only creature his parents tolerated, actually, to live in their house. Erh, not live, as it were. Technically he was haunting the place, and _technically_ he was haunting Danny but that was another story for another time because right now all Hell was breaking loose, and it was only 6 in the morning.

Danny bolted up and out of the way as several more shots flew over his head in precise directions. Phantom never missed a shot, he never got out of control, and for the most part he knew never to wake Danny before 10 unless the house was like, burning down or something. (Which to be fair it had almost done about a month ago, but Phantom's response was to carry Danny out in his pjs and blanket and all, so that the teen woke up in the middle of the street in Phantom's arms surrounded by firemen and confused as all get out. Also another story for another time.)

"PHAN_TOM_, what the hell!" Danny cried, staring at the holes scattered along his wall and table and the one in his lamp. He liked that lamp. He felt no cold, no crawling sensation up his spine, and most importantly, Danny didn't breathe any colder than normal air.

No ghosts. Except the one currently blasting holes in his wall in quick succession.

"Daniel don't!" Phantom hissed in answer, snatching him off the ground and setting him on his desk like he weighed nothing.

Danny stood there for a beat.

"…Phantom I swear to God—"

_Shk shk shk_ came a noise, faint but audible now that there was tense silence from Phantom and Danny was awake. Phantom twisted and fired a shot in the direction; Danny's bedside table lost a leg and fell over like some mortally wounded animal.

"….dude…"

_Shk shk shk _went the walls again.

Phantom growled in exasperation and shot up toward the ceiling, like he did in a battle with a ghost to get a higher vantage point.

"….Phantom."

"I'll find you, you little—"

"_Phantom_!"

"What!" The ghost swung round at him, eyes wide and fists at the ready. Despite looking on the offensive Danny couldn't help but wonder if the slightly helpless look in his ghost's eyes was his imagination or…

"….come down here." Danny pointed down with a finger for emphasis, trying to look firm. Those green eyes flicked this way and that anxiously but the ghost lowered slowly.

Because when Danny spoke, Phantom _listened_.

"…thank you."

Phantom's tailed flicked like an agitated cats' and he wouldn't look Danny in the eyes. He was sulking, and Danny right now didn't care.

"It is _too_ damn early—do you see the calendar? It is Sunday, _Sunday_ dude, my one day to sleep in without anyone harping me!" The teen cried in exasperation, still standing on his desk, moving his keyboard out of his way with his toe. He knew he could give Phantom a verbal licking but he also knew that if he tried to get down from the 'safe place' his ghost stuck him then all bets would be off. Phantom took Danny's safety above all else, and as nice and cute as that was, sometimes he let it cloud his judgment.

"…yes, I know Daniel." The ghost answered, looking for all the world a scolded child, tail lashing wildly in agitation and uneasiness. Danny knew those signs—this was a ghost that wanted out of its current environment and somewhere safer. Phantom wasn't fleeing for..some reason. Danny wondered vaguely if he was the reason.

"Okay, so why the hell did I wake up to you brutally murdering my alarm clock? What's sooo important that—"

_Shk shk shk—FWOOM!_ Phantom pulled his palm back from where he'd stuck it straight out and shot an attack, eyeing the smoking wall closely.

Then Danny heard a squeak of probably terror and saw a pink tail flash out of sight. Phantom darted to the left too and paused in mid air.

"…a mouse."

Phantom didn't move from his position, so still and alert Kujo would have been proud.

"…a mouse." Danny mumbled again, a mixture of shock and disbelief.

"More than one! It's been going on all night—I cannot see them or phase through the walls and get solid because I don't fit! Danny they're driving me _crazy_! That scuttling and chewing—it's, it's insane!...why are you laughing?" Phantom looked wounded and floated over to him.

"…seriously, a mouse. Wait, wait are they like…ghost mice or something?"

"…I don't think so. I'd thought your ghost sense would have told me, but you slept through the whole night and, and all they did was chew and move around and…" The Phantom shuddered and made a face, tail starting to lash again. Danny sighed and stepped onto his chair.

"Daniel! Don't get down what if they—"

"What if they what?" Danny stood on the carpet. "They're mice, not dragons Phantom. Don't worry. Perfectly harmless."

"The noises they were making last night didn't sound so harmless." Phantom mumbled, hovering anxiously after him. The ghost wasn't a natural flight over fight creature—this kind of worried Danny.

"Well, I'm sure the noises _we_ make sometimes at night aren't so harmless either." Danny joked, hoping to calm down his ghost before he put a hole in the wall that was bigger than a couple inches in diameter. As he spoke he walked round the room quietly, and paused, finally finding what he needed.

"Uh le'see…here we go." He tore a bit of paper off his last history report and wandered over to the biggest hole, sticking his hand in and standing still, much to Phantom's horror.

"Daniel! What in Pariah's name are you doing!?"

"To quote you that one time at the zoo, calling a friend." Suddenly the human pulled his hand out, and on top of the paper chewing away happily was a small mouse, that took no notice of its bigger surroundings but continued padding around Danny's palm and going at the paper like it had found jewels.

Now it was Phantom's turn to stare.

"….you know…it?"

"Yeah, well, he was an old lab mouse Mom and Dad got from a friend. The guy…experimented… on them and Mom hates that kinda stuff so they 'saved' them and put them in the basement. I think I was about…nine or ten…" Danny rubbed a finger over a little back. The mouse was healthy and content looking, and didn't seem to mind the petting. Phantom seemed to mind it though, and floated nervously in place.

"Jazz and I took care of him and his buddies for a while, but one day I guess they got free, or rather Houdini here lead a revolution and unlocked their cage, right buddy?" He grinned at the mouse who was now fearlessly knawing lovingly on Danny's fingernail, paper forgotten.

"….Houdini? So this one…never left." Seeing less and less reason to be wary, Phantom was starting to relax.

"Far as I know not _all_ of them did. Houdini's the only one who always comes to you if you have a piece of white paper though; he likes to charge it like a little bull." Danny grinned faintly and sat on his bed, watching Houdini clean his whiskers. "Mom and Dad and Jazz thought they were long gone, but he ran up my leg one day trying to get at my book and I kinda let him stay, as you can see. After all those ghostly shrieks and terrors…it was kind of nice having something _normal_ go bump in the walls."

"…I see."

"…you wanna hold him?"

"Not really, Daniel." Houdini squeaked loudly up at Danny, and Phantom winced.

"Kay." Danny laughed, setting the mouse down on his bed. Houdini grabbed the paper in his teeth and shot off, little mouse butt scooting into a hole so kindly left by Phantom.

"…clever, isn't he." The ghost muttered, now moving closer to Danny.

Danny just grinned. "Hence the namesake, Phantom."

The ghost just made a noise, and Danny let him stare at the hole for a while. He figured he'd leave Phantom to his thoughts for another minute before reminding him they were going to have to explain this mess somehow.

Ghost attack sounded better than 'Phantom was afraid of some mice in the walls so he flipped his shit,' in Danny's opinion.

That'd work.


	2. Home is Where the Haunt Is

**Home is Where the Haunt Is**

Sometimes Phantom could come off a little creepy, he'd admit that.

Actually, he'd admit first of all _when_ he was being scary, because sometimes he was scary and he couldn't account for a time when he wasn't putting someone off. Or at least sending shivers up someone's spine, either on purpose or on accident. He was a _ghost_, alright? He was supposed to be frightening, he felt like sometimes he was meant to be a warning, that his species of expired human had no basis more reliable than shadows. That maybe someday if he wasn't careful he'd become no more than a trick of the light to see through, a draft to be blamed on an old house's poor insulation. That he would maybe fade away. He didn't want to do that.

He certainly didn't mean to be that. Heck, he didn't _want_ to be nothing, even if that meant instead of nothing he was something that was scary. All the better to be scary then, and use it to protect what truly mattered to him, that which he could not survive without. (Because he wasn't really living like this, was he?) But he _could_ exist; he could defend and use this power for good, even if it appeared to be malevolence. Looks could be deceiving after all, and didn't Danny say something along the lines of 'it was the thought that counted?'

But if he was so scary, and meant to instill as much terror as he was capable of doing to the unsuspecting masses on any given day…then how could you explain the human sleeping without a care in the world a mere few inches from him? You couldn't, unless you added in the fact said human was Daniel James Fenton, born into a family of ghost hunters and cursed with becoming half ghost himself. That is until he was able to split them, and the persona that became simply known as Phantom grew to the intellectual degree of a college professor on a good day. This was despite all signs telling him his species was better off suited scaring kids in old abandoned houses, or basically just existing as scary monster that lived in your closet.

And hey, living within Danny's mind had given him shelter, warmth and familiarity. And had made him brave enough to either defend his territory with his ghost powers or take in the world around him. He listened to every one of Danny's classes and drank in every word Danny read of his textbooks, gobbling information as his mind grew and grew. He turned inward when he wanted to know what humans were and how they acted, and he searched outward for deeper knowledge. Information from sciences to mathematics or literature. Danny had taught him the basics, the building blocks. Danny had not taught him math or science very well, though.

No, Danny was a poor teacher in that respect.

However, he'd taught the nameless, ghostly entity something else instead. He'd taught Phantom how to think, and how to worry. How to laugh and how to scream. Danny had shown Phantom the people he needed to guard and where to find the good in the world when all hope was lost—sometimes it was right in your living room, sometimes it was a hug from your mom. To laugh when you wanted to cry, that thunderstorms were beautiful as they were dangerous, and your first love can hurt deeper than any wound.

Sure, Phantom was just an indistinct entity in the beginning, a blip on the radar of Danny's deep subconscious. But we all start out somewhere, Phantom supposed idly that night. Even if his own origins were a little more humble than the rest and not something he bragged about.

Well, correction, Phantom thought again as he lay on his side. He'd brag about Danny _any_ day of the week. Phantom was looking at Danny but his mind was elsewhere for the moment, his body and spectral tail curling lazily round the human that was dead asleep with his back to him.

Said human suddenly shifted in his sleep a fraction back, tilting his face up to the ceiling more. Phantom was pulled from his thoughts, turning glowing green eyes down to refocus on the boy in front of him. He watched with excellent night vision as Danny's side fell and rose with each steady breath. The ghost smiled, pupils rounding out as he regarded Danny affectionately. Even in his sleep Danny never failed to amaze and entertain Phantom.

Who could blame him? Danny was exactly the thing Phantom wanted to be, human and breathing and with a heartbeat. Heck, even a heart at all for that matter would be a change from his icy brittle core.

Where would he be if not for that heart of Danny's though, Phantom wondered. He shuddered to think of the answer, and in response to that thought his tail curled round Danny a little more, subtly protective even now in the safety of Danny's room. He had to be on guard, or at the very least alert. He had no need for sleep like this, because for years he'd been in the habit of dozing for a few moments of his life, waking up when Danny used their powers, and then sleeping when the human was done. No, Phantom had had enough sleep the past 2 years and now he preferred to take lazy naps during the day, allowing him to patrol at night. This schedule of course, had given him insane insomnia, but Danny didn't seem to mind long as Phantom didn't bother him too much. Besides, now that he didn't have patrol and there was someone else to worry about the ghosts, Phantom discovered Danny quite enjoyed getting into bed with almost appreciation and relief. Which was why here they lay, Phantom wide awake and perfectly content and his human half tucked in bed, asleep and snoring softly to prove it. Danny did say Phantom acted more like a cat sometimes than a ghost, and Phantom found he couldn't always argue back.

As if the universe wanted to prove something then, Danny's door creaked slowly and ominously open. It startled the ghost badly and his pupils slitted as he turned his attention on the door, giving a low growl in his throat. Danny was unfortunately lying between him and the door; he was exposed, and he could get hurt if it was an intruder. It wasn't ghostly or his partner would breathe his ice powers, the one ability he'd retained for some reason. It was mostly human than, a burglar, a rapist, the ghost didn't know. All he knew was that if Danny's well-being was at stake here than all bets were off. Phantom swung his tail round the boy's body more and leaned his torso up and over, the green of his eyes shifting to a livid toxic green of forewarning.

This was _his_, and he would rip out the throat of anyone who dared try and harm Danny with his _teeth_ if he had to—

"Phantom, it's me."

The snarling halted abruptly in his throat and he paused, blinking at the face of Danny's older sister.

"Honestly, you'd think there was a murderer on the loose the way you acted when Danny slept." She whispered harshly. Phantom said nothing, simply lashed his tail and turned away, nose in the air slightly.

"What is it Jazz?" He finally whispered softly, not willing to move from his comfortable spot round his boy.

"I was just checking to see if you were on patrol or not….and if Danny was alright."

"Of course he is, why wouldn't he be?" The ghost's brow bunched, settling down carefully. Now he was certain there was no threat, his instincts were relaxing. Phantom felt more human and less specter, as Danny put it. He truly liked Jazz, too, she was friendly, smart and was a mean opponent at chess when the mood hit them. Jazz was a part of Danny's family, which meant she was Phantom's too. The ghost was supposed to protect her; he'd learned that a long time ago.

"Phantom I know you don't believe this, and I know I'm a bit of hypocrite for saying this but Mom and Dad ARE good at what they do, if a little bumbling. Sure they might be mentally scarring us for life, but nothing's going to get in here and come after Danny." She finished softly with a knowing look.

"Mhm." The ghost finally settled with, deciding 3 am wasn't the time to be telling Jazz just how many injuries he and Danny had received over the years of ghosts. Not just normal fights they'd gone looking for, but the ones that came looking for them. All sorts of ecto-monstrosities had been managing for years to slink in from the outside, or even from the Fenton's very own basement. It annoyed Phantom sometimes, angered him on others, but all in all he'd learned to live with. He was perhaps the best one in this family equipped TO live with it.

Jazz sighed, shaking her head but her expression was rather fond. Phantom's tail thumped in response to her expression and he settled his chin on a bony shoulder that belonged to him, and smirked. His eyes flashed in the darkness, not quite human pupils settled on her.

"There's no need to patronize you know—" But then Danny stirred in his sleep, Phantom removed his chin and watched his little human roll onto his back, mumbling something about Willy Wonka and robots. Phantom chuckled softly and shifted to accommodate, spectral tail coiling round the boy's right ankle.

"…I'll leave you two alone then." Came a sly noise and Phantom looked up, prepping a witty response but the door had closed softly. It was now just them indeed, Phantom more or less awake and Danny's nose wrinkling once as he dreamed something that apparently required one to wiggle their nose. It was cute, though.

Phantom snorted softly at Jazz's words, and straightened his spine so he could rest his head on Danny's, chin pressed firmly to the crown of the boy's dark hair. He relaxed himself slowly and felt his core warming, causing his muscles to loosen up as well. The effect Danny's physical presence alone had on him should have been alarming but he couldn't find it in himself to feel that way. It wasn't like Danny would ever…abuse the trust Phantom had placed in him, right?

No, he wouldn't. Of course not.

"Good night Danny...I love you." He murmured in a careful tone, even more cautiously leaning down to press his lips against a pale albeit warm cheek.

It was then Danny shivered from a sensation—Phantom felt it through his whole body because of how close he was—and sluggishly rolled away a bit, murmuring groggily,

"Phantom…close the window, s'cold." Then he was asleep once more, nuzzling into his pillow.

And Phantom…smiled, in a depressing sort of heartbroken way he knew no one would ever see. He ignored the crushing weight in his chest and simply settled back down on the edge of the mattress where he'd started, keeping silent vigil over his human's sleeping form.

Maybe this was his retribution for being the creature he was, loving someone he'd out die and knowing they'd never really love him back. At least…not in the way Phantom wanted.

Well, maybe that was okay. After all, home is where the haunt is.


	3. I Did Not Expect a Spector

_**I Did Not Except a Specter **_

It didn't matter what age you were, you would always be a little kid to your mom. That's just how it _worked_; it was natural way of things for a mother to see her children as when they were babies, even if you're 60 and they're 100 and something, some things never change.

Which is why, even though Maddie Fenton _knew_ there were hundreds of diseases worse than a small bout of appendicitis that they'd caught nice and early, she still hadn't left the hospital, even though it was a day after Danny's surgery and he was sleeping just fine in the room down the hall from the front desk. No complications, no worry about pain, the medicine was fine and helping him rest for now. There really was nothing to worry about, except she hadn't seen him since he'd been pushed through the doors into surgery, or spoken to him since he'd come to her mumbling about how his right side felt really funny.

She used the excuse of hanging around to check on the billing, if the insurance company had contacted the hospital yet, etc etc. The nurses saw right through her she supposed but Jack had believed her, and he and Jazz headed out to drop her off at home and so he could pick them up some dinner.

When that was finished and she was out of reasons other than staying to entertain her own mother bear instincts, the nurse finally smiled knowingly and reminded her visiting hours didn't end for another two hours.

She smiled politely back, thanked the woman, and headed down the hall to her son's room. One quick little peak couldn't hurt, and the nurses at the station would tell Jack where she was, if he didn't guess himself.

Just as she was about to round the corner to Danny's door there was a subtle _shift_ in the air, ever so slight. Ghost hunting had been the last thing on her mind, and Jack's too she knew, since this whole thing had started, except now it shoved to the front and presented itself with a smug air of, 'I told you so! Never let your guard down!'

…_that couldn't be…what would one be doing here!?_ Her muscles locked or shifted on instinct, bringing her leaned over, back pressed against the wall as she pulled her goggles down and leaned to the right a bit, maybe she was just _imaging_ it, maybe she was just being jumpy—

"Daniel?"

A mother's instincts were never wrong, and really they were only more tuned when mixed with a hunter's senses, in her opinion. That was most definitely a voice she didn't know, saying her baby's name in a soft whisper and the air felt a bit cooler as well. She wasn't crazy. Someone…or something…was in the room with her sweet little son.

"Danny?" murmured the voice again, a bit louder this time. _Closer_. She scrambled for her scanner, holding a button and watching it search a 10 ft radius—ping! Yes. Definite paranormal voice. Would send even a dime store EVP recorder off the Richter scale.

She growled, using the corner of the wall before Danny's room as a perfect hiding place for her smaller form and peeked round the corner into his room, thankful he didn't have a roommate at the moment. For now she was undetectable behind the wall and his half ajar door too, so that was in her favor.

She'd have only a second to blast the fucker who dared try and get her baby—and then, against _years_ of training and fighting and experience that had hammered the opposite into her, Maddie Fenton _froze_ on the spot. She didn't even have a hand on her ecto-gun yet. She just stared.

Maddie watched in heart stopping horror as the awful creature, one of the ones she'd spent her life trying to eradicate…there was one stepping over to her sleeping boy. Not sneakily, not even looking evil about. Just…walking over to him like Sam and Tucker had, like they were old friends. Not just any specter either no, that wasn't her luck, this was THE ghost, the epicenter of the Hell that Amityville had to go through almost daily, the biggest piece of kindle to her and Jack's fighting spirit and vigor. She would admit it only to her husband and maybe to her computers that kept recorded the data…but he was a strong ghost, too. The strongest she'd ever fought anyway, maybe the strongest of them all, who knew?

Any good hunter was always prepared for any situation; she knew that, she did.

Yet she wasn't ready for what happened next.

The ghost lifted slightly off the floor, hovering over Danny, still watching him, always watching. Then he reached down, pulled the covers up to Danny's shoulders he'd moved in his sleep, with a smile—a _smile_?—on its face.

Something different and dangerous might have happened next if Danny hadn't woken up, but he did, dimly, and the first thing she heard him say was a weak mumble of, "….phantom?" Something blue left his lips as he said that, his nose wiggled like he did when it was too cold. Lowering temperature—definite ghost activity. But nevertheless a subconscious one, it was part and parcel for being a ghost, after all.

Maddie Fenton swallowed, stayed down and waited after a quick scan of the hallway behind her; no one had come down here. The hospital was quiet. Or were people just not coming near because they sensed something they wanted to stay away from?

"Phantom," Danny muttered again, sounding rather relived. Suddenly it didn't sound like a word so much as it did a…title. A name—his name? The ghost—the ghost was named Phantom. Oh…kay. It caused confusion and worry for her, but even more when she heard the ghost answer.

"Hello Daniel." It…_sounded_ like her son, with a trace of deepness to his voice, and his tone was lower, but just as fond. She wondered if that was intentional, it certainly gave the ghost a slightly mature tone.

Maybe it was a trick—

"How are you feeling? Do you want me to get you something to drink? Some water—I heard you could have that, or, or a doctor?" That tone couldn't be a trick—could it?

"M'fine Phantom, seriously dude. You worry like…way too much." Danny chuckled faintly, wiggling on the bed a bit into what appeared to be a more comfortable position. He was still smiling sleepily up at that damn ghost though, and he started looking more awake.

…if things keep up at such a low keyed manner then she wouldn't strike. She'd, she'd wait until her baby boy was safely back to sleep as long as the ghost boy didn't look like he was prepared to strike. He looked rather relaxed, not shifting his eyes about or tense, just quiet and calm, hovering over Danny. His tail flicking lazily as he spoke.

"I'm only worried about you…"

_Ghosts don't worry. He's lying!_

"I know."

"..."

"Phantom? Ah c'mon it's just a little appendicitis, nothing major. I'll be up in no time."

"Humans can die from that, I read"

"Humans can die from a lot of things buddy, you know that." Danny hummed quietly, sighing and shrugging. "But not me from this, so everything's fine."

The ghost made a noise in the back of its throat, rather sad sounding, and it almost made Maddie wonder if the ghost kid was being earnest this whole time. Then she wondered what the ghost had to gain from pretending to be Danny's friend.

_Access to our weapons? _She wondered briefly, her hand finally finding the strap of her weapon and pulling it out without a single sound. He was certainly smart enough, this one could think—but then why was he here _now_, when no one's home, this was the perfect opportunity to break into the lab!

"You were here earlier, right?" Maddie's thoughts froze as she tuned into her son's and that monster's talk, Danny sipping some water that had been handed to him. No verbal answer, but the ghost boy nodded, eyes locked on Danny's.

"I didn't leave, Daniel. You know I wouldn't." He finally spoke, earning, along with Maddie's disbelief, a faint smile on Danny's lips around his straw.

"Oh, I know, yeah, I just, I dunno…" Suddenly it was Danny who wasn't making eye contact, a faint pink over his cheeks and dusting his nose almost as he took great interest in the window.

"Did you feel a cold spot while they operated on you?"

"….yeah. Or at least I dreamed it…felt something."

Phantom smiled—gosh he looked so much like Danny like that—and said nothing for a split second.

"So no, I didn't. I would never leave you. Where would I go?" And to her horror, more horror than those soft spoken, affectionate tones held, a gloved hand reached out and brushed some black bangs away, to which Danny leaned playfully back, muttering something about not being a sap, wasn't like he was _dying_.

"Dunno, maybe to that old spooky inn on the outskirts of town, you like it there." Danny grinned back, handing the cup back to the ghost, who set it on the windowsill.

"I like it there for the privacy."

"Uh-huh. And cause its spooky."

"So?"

"Sooo, you're a ghost dude. Spooky and ghosts go together like apple pie and cheese man."

"Really? I hadn't noticed, I thought I was just feeling a terrible draft these few years." Phantom answered back dryly, suddenly floating through the bed to straighten a chair, and push a vase of flowers from Sam back from the window sill. Maddie wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen it with her own two eyes.

_Is he…is he tidying up?!_

Her boy just grinned and asked for the magazine lying out his reach. Phantom handed it to him without missing a beat.

And the thing was…they kept on like this. For several minutes, actually. Maddie watched in growing amazement as the ghost relaxed next to her boy, stretching out in thin air, tail swinging like a lazy cat as they chatted about this and that. Danny talked about the same stuff she'd heared him mention with his friends, whereas Phantom would follow along but bring up idle reminders about homework and Mister Lancer's book report, and that he hoped Danny had read the chapters he needed to have read by Tuesday, because phantom wasn't going to give his usual reminders now that finals were coming up.

"That's cheating." Phantom tsked when Danny whined about it.

"It's not! I'm asking myself a question, and just….getting a better answer than usual. A B+ answer actually. I wouldn't bug you if you didn't read all those books."

"How is me educating myself when I have free time allowance for you to ask me questions on—"

"Phantom it's only been a few times, I won't go it again, I promise."

"Hm."

"…not unless it's a REALLY hard question. Like write a paragraph explaining some useless little sentence ones. Don't I get _one_ get out of jail free card, pleeeease?"

"…one."

"Hah. I love you." Danny said smugly, leaning back against the pillows with folded arms and smirking.

The ghost rolled his eyes, the action _so_ human it jarred Maddie from her staring. That, and the phantom was suddenly sat up from where he was lying on his stomach in the air, lowering to the ground gently before sighing. Danny blinked at him.

There was a long beat, and suddenly:

"You can probably come out now Mrs. Fenton." The ghost murmured, turning to look right at her covered hiding place.

Both Fenton's froze, though Danny just cocked his head at the ghost in askance and confusion and she herself had frozen for a split second in shock and a touch of fear. How dare he-! She gritted her teeth and flung round the corner, standing up straight with a hand on her holster just to make a point, her other hand pointing an accusatory finger. Let it never be said she didn't know how to improvise when things went south.

"Alright listen up ghost kid! I—"

"Mom!?" Danny shrieked, trying to jerk up and wincing, pulling at something.

To her horror a white gloved hand reached out automatically to steady him and well that did it. She only glared more at the ghost, who glanced at her quietly before going back to Danny, spectral tail flicking lightly to keep it afloat.

"…M-mom? It's not…it's uh…" Danny sighed and smacked his forehead, earning a questioning look from Phantom. "It's exactly what it looks like." He moaned.

"Danny we'll talk about this later, right now—"

"Right now eat ecto ghost scum!" Her husband had the worst (or maybe best?) timing, it seemed. Jack rounded the corner, dropped the takeout all over the floor and ripped an ecto gun off his belt, and took aim.

Phantom didn't even looked _fazed_. He shook his head in exasperation and Maddie noticed, glanced over at Danny, who jerked his head left toward the window. Phantom nodded shortly, and started turning translucent, as if to disappear, before she saw her husband, out of the corner of her eye, also open a Fenton thermos he'd spotted, to capture the ghost. Danny saw this too and sat up straight in the hospital bed, wide horror filled eyes that you'd think he'd reserve for Phantom.

"Dad _no_! That's got a—" Maddie saw the full light blink too late, and the cap came off, Phantom tensing up by the window, as if intending to shoot out of it instead.

With a screech of anger two rather violent looking ghosts were unleashed from the thermos, observing the scene for a split second before their beady little eyes fell on the last thing it had seen before they'd had been captured, the one who'd done the trapping—

Danny.

_'Kiiill…' _the ghosts hissed, staring down at Danny, both lurching toward him with claws and teeth, slitted eyes glaring.

_"NO!" _ Phantom cried, sprinting forward, gathering plasma in the back of his throat, and let out his tell-tale shriek which caused the two humans standing around _watching_ to stumble back in fear. The walls shook and Danny had to grab his IV stand to steady it. Phantom leaped toward the ceiling and screamed a short ghostly wail again at the demon ghosts, sending them flying away from Danny and pinning their writhing bodies to the ground with the pure intensity. The shockwave caused waves of smoke to fill the hospital room, but Phantom didn't need clear air to see.

He dived at the ghosts, slamming one with a fist of ice, causing it to shriek in pain and beat its wings, lifting its body into the air and away from Danny's bed. The second he delivered a kick with the same force, right in the jaws, causing it to blunder, disoriented. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Danny yank back out of the way much as he could in that damn bed, but felt no relief. The ghosts were in a murderous rage, they'd had been particularly difficult to catch the first time, and this time they were hell bent on revenge.

_'THAT HUMAN IS MINE!' _ A specter bellowed, rolling over to try and knock Phantom away.

_"DON'T YOU DARE __TOUCH__ HIM!" _ Phantom shrieked in answer as the ghost fell backwards, knocking Phantom himself onto his back, trying to bite him. Phantom fought him off furiously and kicked him hard in the face with his legs, causing the ghost to fall back with an angry shriek. Phantom jumped up directly in front of Danny glaring around at the two humans and two ghosts in front of him. His pupils were dangerously small, eyes almost all neon green

"_If any of you dare come near Danny I'll kill you all!"_

The ghosts were the stupid ones, (his parents just looked flabbergasted) tried to dart past him again, but Phantom was quicker, diving in front of them with an indignant noise, teeth bared and raised fists pulsing with much too strong ectoenergy.

_This_ was the monstrous entity Maddie Fenton was used to seeing, yet she could find no comfort in it, because of the reasons behind the ghost's actions.

It was as if…he intended to protect Danny with every scrap of his afterlife. She had a thought that the number of ghosts wouldn't matter to him, who the enemies were or what they tried. There didn't seem to be anything that would move this undead creature.

The other ghosts cringed back at the sizzling glowing green eyes of the Phantom and found they could not fight it. They shrunk back cowardly, and they ran, desperately seeking the window, to which they hurriedly shot out of and into the sky. Phantom growled, and then felt a hand rest on his shoulder; he was by Danny's bed now. He wondered, idly, if Danny's parents were alright. He didn't care.

Danny tried to push Phantom, and the ghost could feel the pure fear and terror ripping through his human, but that made him only desire to stay more, and clouded his reasoning, letting instinct take the driver's seat.

"Go, _GO_!" Danny begged, pointedly looking at the window where the ghosts had disappeared out of, but Phantom stood firm for once. Suddenly he heard Danny gasp and whirled round in the direction he was staring in alarm.

"No Dad! Phantom—no! Dad, he won't hurt you!"

Phantom's eyes widened as he looked straight ahead of him. Jack Fenton was running towards him, weapon in hand. Recognition bled through those green eyes, but they didn't make the ghost change his posture. It only seemed to make him tense more, fists clenching back up. He was a ghost, sometimes thoughts got jumbled up in there—sometimes he reacted instinctually when he shouldn't.

"_YOU'LL PAY FOR THE HURT YOU HAVE CAUSED!_" he shrieked, darting forwards. Maddie ran towards him, shouting, but he batted her away effortlessly with a wall of energy. The large human before him was the only focus of his attention at the moment. He heard Danny crying out behind him, and his anger increased as he rocketed forward, rolling onto the human, pinning him to the ground with pure anger. The man who'd put his son in harm with ghosts and weapons, the man who thought killing the undead or capturing it to study took precedence over his own flesh and blood. He opened his mouth wide and began to gather energy in the back of his throat.

"No…NO!" He heard Danny cry, and Phantom turned to Danny, stopping the preparation of his strongest attack, and stared at the boy with questioning eyes.

"Please don't hurt him…Phantom, please…don't." Danny tried again weakly, reaching out for Phantom desperately. Glowing green eyes focused on those hands.

And Phantom? Stopped. And slouched back, still pinning the large man, but closed his mouth, swallowing the energy for the deadly attack and making a slight face of disgust as the burning taste. It was like a switch had been hit.

Danny was panting like he'd done the fighting, watching Phantom with big, relived eyes, muttering his thanks. He sagged in the bed and shivered, glancing in shame and worry at his parents.

Phantom's eyes narrowed and he got up, strutting over to boy's bed quietly, sparing a look filled with as much suspicions and warning venom as he could muster at Danny's mother and father.

"Danny…" started his mother quietly as she helped her husband up. "I think we need to have a talk."

Phantom snorted.


	4. Stay With Me

Danny gets hurt due to a careless incident and Phantom, well Phantom does what any good boy friend slash possessive entity would do—he flips his shit. And maybe a bus or two.

_**Stay With Me**_

_"One does not become enlightened by imaging figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious." C. G. Jung 2_

It was a fight.

Fights, in Phantom's line of work were many and often, with varying levels of difficulty. The only thing that marked this occasion was the sheer number of onslaught of ghosts, even with his human's help and their friends; it was slow going driving the aggressive entities back into the ghost zone, or sucking them in the thermoses. They'd gone through three already, Phantom was starting to wonder if it was any use cornering and using the ghostly wail on them all at once—but he probably wouldn't be much help after if he did try that, and then where would his friends be?

He couldn't let anything happen to them, not to Sam or Tucker….and certainly not Danny, the boy to whose life he owed. Who Phantom's whole _world_ revolved around. Who was currently bravely helping him, fighting alongside him. He was risking life and limb to protect people and it made Phantom's chest swell with pride and affection for the teen, it fueled the ghost to keep up his own offense, matching the ghosts and going above and beyond.

Few could stand against him, one on one. He was aware of this. He was proud of this power—and, if he were going to be honest with himself, it was a dangerous volatile power he had. One that could snap inside him any minute and override the small kindling of humanity Danny had sparked in him.

Phantom could have anything he wanted, if he wanted it bad enough. He was a ghost after all, they were driven by possessiveness and had a hunger for what they couldn't have when they were a live, or what they lost. Except Phantom wasn't a true ghost—not really. He'd been dragged from Danny's mind and so technically he was a part of the youngest Fenton, he supposed. The sience sounded impossible sure, but didn't most things about his kind? Ah well. It wasn't like it mattered—because Phantom DID actually have what his core burned for, so there really wasn't any problem, or any reason to ask questions.

So the what-ifs were furthest from Phantom's mind right now, as he soared and dove and slammed withering bodies against walls and tossed them in the direction of someone's thermos beam. This was easy enough—shut down the higher processes and just focus on destroying or subduing. Simple instincts, ghost instincts, he supposed.

Danny suddenly moved out of his line of vision, and normally Phantom would have turned to remedy this, twisting to keep an eye on his human. He couldn't though, not when three ghosts signaled him out as the strongest and ganged up, trying to strike him at get him in one go.

They were nothing. Phantom could kill them in his sleep and he seemed to say as much, ripping and punching and blasting. He was high above the ground, he didn't feel the earth shudder from the steps of a behemoth beast ghost, he didn't notice the roars mixed in with all the other noises of the battle, he didn't notice much of anything besides _punch, dodge, kick, dodge—_

Then it happened. It started with a long roar, a rumble and sickening crunch—and a scream that fell short like the screamer had run out of air. One that was familiar and caught Phantom's attention, made him halt his fist mid punch and caused his ectoplasm to chill right there in his body. He froze, tearing himself from the brawl with a low level octo-ghost and shot into the air, spinning around frantically.

The scream had ended yes, but Phantom felt no relief, only felt more panic drive him as he twisted to the right and swung his gaze down and finally his eyes fell upon…

Danny.

His Danny, dirt and grime a-and something red covering his arm, some of his upper torso and an another arm, pale and flung out. The thermos was still rolling to a stop, having been freed. Danny wouldn't let go of that unless he was…

Danny. Lying crumpled in a heap on a pile of debris like he was another broken piece of plaster, junk that was created from the fight. Lying under a paw of a beast like ghost, a rotten twisted black entity about the size of a semi and with the bulk to match. It continued roaring senselessly, one hulking paw still holding down the human, but Danny didn't have its attention any longer, because he'd stopped taunting and fighting it after one good slam. He'd been dealt with—like Phantom had been doing to these ghosts.

Phantom felt like a light had gone out; in its place he naturally felt darkness. It wasn't comforting, like it should be to a ghost.

It was _empty_.

"Danny…?" He wasn't sure what good a whisper would do up here, but Phantom couldn't focus very well now.

Phantom went just as still as Danny, poised in mid air, muscles tensing as he tried to process what he was seeing. He…he couldn't. It wasn't…why couldn't he move?!

The beast stepped off, revealing all of Danny's body. Good! Now Danny could get up—get the thermos, even if he limped, even if he just rolled over or flinched or did SOMETHING oh god—he wasn't doing _any_ of those things. He was still lying helpless in the middle of the battle, head tipped on its side and though Phantom couldn't see from up here his eyes must have been closed, bangs flopped in front of them. Danny didn't stir, didn't even so much as twitch, even when Sam called his name too and went scrambling over to him, Tucker watching her back.

It was only then, when his once other ghostly half saw that _Danny wasn't moving_, did his brain slam back into gear. Phantom could think again, but all he could think was fury.

No. _No._

Phantom gave a cry that startled even Sam and Tucker below him on the ground. Everyone cast a glance upward at the hovering ghost, the only humanoid form among the monsters circling, illuminated by their own eerie glow against the dark clouds.

Phantom was giving off his own ghastly glow; it sputtered brighter than usual, green energy collecting. His fists clenched as toxic eyes suddenly tore from Danny's form and landed on the ghost that had caused his current state. His eyes, Phantom's teeth with the slightly _too_ pronounced canines gnashing.

The noise Phantom let loose next wasn't human. It wasn't even animalistic, for that matter. He wasn't an animal, not really. Animals thought, understood, on some levels. Were self aware or at least _conscious_. Had either a concept of right and wrong or a concept of nature. Phantom…didn't have any of those things. He hadn't ever been, not really. He just hadn't noticed till now. Now that…there was no heartbeat to marvel over, no inquisitive blue eyes to focus on. He was minus warm laughter and an even warmer body, he was lacking teases and shoulder bumps and smiles and everything that ever meant something to Phantom suddenly seemed oh so very far away and Phantom wanted it back. Even if he landed, even if he got closer, what would be the point? Nothing would change. He'd just see things in greater detail. Phantom had just lost what was his. Danny was all HIS. He owned all of him—and suddenly it was taken away from him!?

Fine.

Phantom suddenly grinned wickedly, eyes alighting on the still circling ghosts and targeting the beast in particular once more. His eyes focused, thin black pupils getting lost among the ecto lime green. _Fine_.

He didn't have to answer to anything anymore. He could have anything he wanted—and right now? He wanted revenge. _Blood_.

With a guttural roar that the wind echoed behind him, Phantom finally let ghostly instinct take over, and he did what he supposed he was meant to do from the very beginning.

He unleashed Hell.


End file.
